Can-opener.



N0. 656,|39. Patented Aug. [4, I900.

C. KEMPF.

CAN OPENER.

(Application filed Dem 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

' amwutoz Wit-nausea jfkrn/a NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL KEMPF, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

CAN-OPEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,139, dated August 14, 1900.

Application filed DecemberlS, 1899. Serial No. 740,758. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL KEMPF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel rotary canopener, and has for its object the production of a device which by easy manipulation may be quickly adjusted to cut a circular piece from a can of any diameter by a half turn or revolution of the opener, which is retained in place and accurately centered during its operation.

To this'end the device consists of a handpiece and centerer rigidly alined by an intermediate shank-socket, which adjustably retains a pair of radially-adj ustable shank-s carrying terminal guides and knives.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my can-opener complete. Fig. 2 is a central transverse sectional view, partly in elevation; and .Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal view through-the socket, showing certain of the parts in elevation.

Referring to the numerals of reference, indicating corresponding parts in the several views, 1 indicates a handpiecc or handle comprising a grip and post, at the end of which latter is an integral or otherwise-fixed horizontal shank-socket 2 of rectangular crosssectional contour.

The bottom Wall 3 of the socket is limited to the center of the socket and practically constitutes a mere bridge-piece supporting a centerer or centering-post 4, coaxial with the post of the handpiece and having a terminal point 5, reduced to form a shoulder 6, designed to rest upon the top of the can when the point 5 is punched through it.

Fitting snugly within the socket and extending beyond its ends are a pair of shanks 7 and 8, preferably placed side by side and each provided with an angular end 9, notched at 10 to form a terminal guide 11. The knives or cutters 12 are sharpened at their opposite sides and secured, as by rivets, to the inner faces of theends 10 just above the notches and extending opposite the guides 11 to form an intermediate recess 13 for the reception of the side wall of the can. Each shank is provided with graduations 14 to facilitate the identical adjustment of the knives toward or from the center and with a terminal stop-lug 15 at the end opposite its knife and designed to abut against the opposite end of the socket to prevent the shank from being drawn entirely therethrough and detached therefrom.

Any suitable means for securing the shanks in their adjusted positions may be provided; but I prefer to employ a set-screw 16, passed through a threaded aperture in one side wall of the socket and serving to clamp the shanks against the opposite side of the socket when the desired adjustment of the knives in accordance with the diameter of the can has been attained.

In operation the set-screw is unscrewed and the shanks are moved in opposite directions toward or from the center, as the case may be, until the recesses 13 are immediately above the wall of the can. The set-screw is then tightened to secure the shanks against relative movement and the point and knives are forced through the can-top, the former at its center and the latter immediately adjacent to its periphery. The device being thus centered, the handle is grasped and the opener is given a half-turn. The knives, which are transversely curved, each cut a semicircular slit in the can-top, and as these slits meet at their opposed ends a circular piece, practically the entire top, is cut from the can.

While the present embodiment of my invention appears at this time to be preferable, I do not desire to limit myself to the structural details defined, but reserve the right to make such changes, modifications, and variations as may fall properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

What I claim is- 1. A can-opener comprising a handpiece, and socket having an open bottom and a bridge-piece at the center thereof, a centerer extending from the bridge-piece, a pair of graduated shanks extending through the socket and each provided with an angular end, and a cutter carried by the'angular end of each shank.

2. A can-opener comprising a handpiece and socket having an open bottom closed at its center by a bridge-piece, a pointed cening one Wall of the socket and constituting terer extending from the bridge-piece in axial shanl-z-adjusting mechanism. 10 alinement with the handpiece,apair of shanks In testimony whereof I affix my signature passed through the socket and each having in presence of two Witnesses.

an angular end and a stop-lug at its opposite CARL KEMPF. extremity, a terminal guide and opposed cut- 7 lVitnesses:

ter at the extremity of each shank, gradua- II. II. SCIIUFF,

tions upon said shanks and a set-screw pierc- P. O. KANNENBERG. 

